Boss Watch: 5/13 – 5/20

Jacob Morrison

Illegal activities of Southern Bosses for the weeks between Friday, June 13, and Friday, June 20

Florida Killers

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited two event production companies following an inspection concerning an October 2024 employee fatality.

Stage FX Inc. and James Thomas Productions LLC were cited with serious violations for allegedly failing to maintain structural stability during the erection of a stage and failing to provide proper employee training on the associated hazards. 

James Thomas Productions paid $19,860 to address the violations, while Stage FX has contested the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

McKenna Schueler included more details in her reporting for the Orlando Weekly.

Alabama Killers

Transtar rail worker Michael Dewaine Townsend, 39, died from blunt force injuries after being hit by a railcar in an accident that occurred about 11 p.m. on Monday, June 16 in Fairfield, AL. 

AL(dot)com reports that he leaves behind 4 children, and that only a year ago his wife passed away. A GoFundMe for the 4 children has raised $36k as of Saturday morning, June 21st. If you’d like to donate, you can do so by Googling the title of the fundraiser “Help Micheal’s Children After Tragedy gofundme,” or by following this link if you’re reading this in the newsletter.

Railroad Workers United (RWU), a cross craft caucus of union railroad workers, sent out a notice about his death and included some more information that AL(dot)com didn’t have, like a statement from the company, Transtar, which said, “we are investigating the incident and are cooperating with investigations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. Due to the nature of the ongoing investigations, we will not be commenting further on the incident.”

RWU also noted that Transtar, which operates seven railroads serving U.S. Steel facilities, was sold by the steelmaker to Fortress Transportation in 2021. Its Fairfield Southern railroad provides in-plant rail service for U.S. Steel’s Fairfield Works, located approximately 10 miles west of Birmingham.

RWU encouraged people to double their resolve to build a safer workplace where such tragedies are not so commonplace, and to commit yourself to following up on how and why our brother or sister was killed. What is the behind-the-scenes story? What role did unsafe conditions, including short staffing, crew fatigue, inadequate training and/or qualifying, deferred maintenance, or other factors play in this fellow worker’s death?

They also encourage folks to get involved in the national movement against blame the worker “behavior-based safety” programs. Help build real union-based safety committees and programs that focus on hazard elimination and do not ignore the underlying causes of accidents, injuries and fatalities sustained on the job. For more information, see the RWU webpage entitled “Oppose Behavior Based Safety.”

Take part in the RWU annual Railroad Workers Memorial Day each April 28th. For more information, see the RWU webpage “Fallen Rails.”

Crushed, Electrocuted

Workers die on the job every day in the United States – 100 workers every week. Frustratingly, most of these deaths are preventable, but they are often not investigated due to underfunding at OSHA, and often the community doesn’t even know it’s happened. Even though OSHA is even more hamstrung than before, there is sometimes a small news story whenever someone dies at work because it’s such a terrible thing to happen in a community. 

On the Confined Space Newsletter – set up by Jordan Barab, a former OSHA official – they compile as many news stories on worker deaths as he can find every week. In addition to this newsletter, they regularly host commentary and analysis pieces about labor and workplace safety. You can find it all at jordanbarab.com/confinedspace

This week, they found 16 stories of deaths on the job, including 8 from the South. 

A few lowlights:

  • Parker County, TX — Two workers died after getting stuck in an underground water tank in Parker County on Friday, according to Parker County firefighters and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. Initial call details indicated that the two men who had been performing maintenance on the tank could not be reached by coworkers. The men were unresponsive as crews tried to rescue them, authorities said. Parker County ESD 1 said in a news release that its crews were called shortly before 5 p.m. to the scene, where the workers were inside the concrete tank “in a below grade space or trench.”
  • Riceville, NC –-A member of the Riceville Volunteer Fire Department has died in a line-of-duty accident, according to a June 14 Buncombe County news release. The release said the death occurred during a training exercise “serious accident” involving an all-terrain vehicle in Montreat. Two other members of the department were “transported for medical treatment,” according to the news release. Violet Caramella, a firefighter and advanced emergency medical technician for the Riceville Volunteer Fire Department, was involved in the accident. Caramella, who had been with the Riceville department for a year and also served with the Skyland Fire Department, succumbed to her injuries despite lifesaving efforts from fellow firefighters and emergency personnel.

You can read more here. 

Union Busters

Brought to you by LaborLab: The nation’s leading watchdog standing with working families to stop employer coercion and intimidation. Visit www.laborlab.us for more info.

Here are the new filings from this week:

In addition, the following filings were amended:

As a reminder, due to a lack of enforcement, some labor relations consultants may disregard the law and fail to report their activities to the U.S. Department of Labor. Therefore, it’s crucial for organizers and workers to report suspected “persuader” activity to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).

It’s crucial for organizers and workers to report suspected “persuader” activity to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). You can reach them via email at  OLMS-Public@dol.gov, by calling (202) 693-0123, or by contacting your nearest OLMS District Office.

For assistance, please contact LaborLab at contact@laborlab.us.